The River Frome /ˈfruːm/ is a river in Dorset in the south of England. At 30 miles (48 km) long it is the major chalkstream in southwest England. It is navigable upstream from Poole Harbour as far as the town of Wareham.
The River Frome /ˈfruːm/ is a river in Dorset in the south of England. At 30 miles (48 km) long it is the major chalkstream in southwest England. It is navigable upstream from Poole Harbour as far as the town of Wareham.
Purbeck was a local government district in Dorset, England. The district was named after the Isle of Purbeck, a peninsula that forms a large proportion of the district's area. However, it extended significantly further north and west than the traditional boundary of the Isle of Purbeck which is the River Frome. The district council was based in the town of Wareham, which is itself north of the Frome.
The district was formed under the Local Government Act 1972 on 1 April 1974, from the former municipal borough of Wareham, Swanage urban district and Wareham and Purbeck Rural District.The district and its council were abolished on 1 April 2019, together with the other four districts outside the greater Bournemouth area, to form a new Dorset unitary authority.
Dorchester (/ˈdɔːrtʃɛstər/ DOR-ches-tər) is the county town of Dorset, England. It is situated between Poole and Bridport on the A35 trunk route. A historic market town, Dorchester is on the banks of the River Frome to the south of the Dorset Downs and north of the South Dorset Ridgeway that separates the area from Weymouth, 7 miles (11 km) to the south. The civil parish includes the experimental community of Poundbury and the suburb of Fordington.
The area around the town was first settled in prehistoric times. The Romans established a garrison there after defeating the Durotriges tribe, calling the settlement that grew up nearby Durnovaria; they built an aqueduct to supply water and an amphitheatre on an ancient British earthwork. During the medieval period Dorchester became an important commercial and political centre. It was the site of the "Bloody Assizes" presided over by Judge Jeffreys after the Monmouth Rebellion, and later the trial of the Tolpuddle Martyrs. As well as having many listed buildings, a number of notable people have been associated with the town. It was for many years the home and inspiration of the author Thomas Hardy, whose novel The Mayor of Casterbridge uses a fictionalised Dorchester as its setting.
Poole Harbour is a large natural harbour in Dorset, southern England, with the town of Poole on its shores. The harbour is a drowned valley (ria) formed at the end of the last ice age and is the estuary of several rivers, the largest being the Frome. The harbour has a long history of human settlement stretching to pre-Roman times. The harbour is extremely shallow (average depth 48 cm [19 in]), with one main dredged channel through the harbour, from the mouth to Holes Bay.
Poole Harbour has an area of approximately 36 km (14 sq mi). It is one of several which lay claim to the title of "second largest natural harbour in the world" (after Port Jackson, Sydney).
Fordington is a part of the town of Dorchester, in Dorset, England. It was originally a separate village, it has now become a suburb. Taking its name from a ford across the River Frome, it grew up around the church of St. George (where Henry Moule was once Vicar), though the parish was much larger and surrounded Dorchester on three sides. It was part of the liberty of Fordington.
The will of Alfred the Great is said to make an early reference to Saint George of England, in the context of the church of Fordington, Dorset. Certainly at Fordington a stone over the south door records the miraculous appearance of St George to lead crusaders into battle.